A Conservative Club in Baguley has been hit with stringent new security measures after a rowdy and violent scuffle broke out, leading to police intervention. On November 4, officers descended upon The Winston club following reports of men fighting fiercely and causing serious harm, with some individuals reportedly stamping on others’ heads, detailed PC Alan Isherwood in a document submitted to the local authority.
During an organised event that combined a birthday celebration with a funeral service, a dispute escalated into considerable violence, resulting in extensive damage to the club’s lavatory facilities. The owner’s daughter was assaulted in the affray, which erupted outside the venue after troublemakers were ejected, escalating into an even broader confrontation, PC Isherwood explained in his statement.
Several people attempted to break up the fight which led to greater conflict. The chaotic affairs of the evening resulted in severe injuries for four individuals, including a broken ankle, a fractured cheekbone, and a cerebral hemorrhage, with hospitalisation necessary, according to the council briefing.
Club management faced a Manchester council convened urgent review to deliberate on amending their licensing conditions. PC Isherwood recommended adding a trained security guard to keep order at gatherings comprising over 40 attendees alongside improved CCTV installation, reports the Manchester Evening News.
“Surely having someone employed who’s trained to deal with conflict resolution and defence tactics would be better if this horrible situation arose again, instead of your daughter or any other member of staff having to place themselves in danger? ,” he proposed to the council.
Colette Renton, representing the club, described the requirement for hiring £25-an-hour security as ‘prohibitively expensive’, contesting that such measures were ‘disproportionate’ and referring to the incident prompting this decision as a ‘very unfortunate freak incident’. “To add this to the conditions of the club because of one night in the history of the club – to have such a prohibitively expensive condition – is setting them up to fail,” she remarked.
“Any venue couldn’t have prevented this from happening. I understand the need to protect the public. But this is not proportionate against this serious but completely unpredictable scenario.”
Council members have instructed the club to employ security for events exceeding 60 attendees, provide additional staff training for security situations, and install CCTV across all public areas.